David
'Its just like in St. Louis…The Arc-Aviards must be under Chase's control…' I thought as I crept inside the warehouse.
The Arc-Aviards were crowded in a circle in the center of the warehouse with the soldiers that were assigned to guarding them laying in heaps not too far from the entranced evos. I cautiously approached the closet to me and knelt down to check for a pulse.
The soldier was still alive, likely knocked unconscious from the same ear-piercing singing from Chase that Ziana and I had felt earlier. He was clutching his ears and curled in the fetal position, his expression one of pain even unconscious.
Turning away from him I focused back onto the Arc-Aviards. If I couldn't get a couple of them to listen to me then I was likely to perish on this island with Ziana as well as my grandchild.
I cautiously approached the flank of the smallest of the Arc-Aviards, though even the smallest of them were taller than me by three feet at least. It made no visible reaction to my proximity, like it wasn't aware that I was there. Which given their size was a possibility.
The Arc-Aviards were a upgrade of the Aviard, one of the evos I entrusted to Chase two years ago when the Ascended attacked St. Louis. The Aivard were a combination of eagle, hawk, and wolf DNA, While the Arc-Aviards were a combination of Harpie eagle, Great Condor, and Eurasian wolf. Arc-Aviards were much larger than the original were while still boasting a resistance to splicer control the original did. Though resistance and immunity were proving to be two different things.
As I placed my hand on the Arc-Aviards hind-wing the golden light in its eyes faded. It shook its head quickly like it was waking up from a dream before looking back at me still touching it. The evo cocked its head to the side, its eyes taking in my much smaller form and deciding if I was friend or foe.
The Arc-Aviard let out a short chirping noise. Researchers and trainers identified this behavior as them acknowledging a superior or owner. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in and stepped around to the front of the evo.
The Arc-Aviard tilted his head to the side while chirping, indicating it was waiting for instructions. Arc-Aivards were very intelligent and this was a well documented and studied fact among Justice Technologies scientist. Trained ones could understand more than three hundred individual commands.
"Door, wait." I ordered the evo while pointing to the door to the warehouse. Knowing full well that they understood simple commands best.
The Arc-Aviard made a twilling noise then galloped over to the door. Well it was more like a clomp in reality. Like the evo they were based on Arc-Aviards didn't have legs, rather they walked on the knuckles of their wings. With their larger size it looked extra clumsy.
Seeing the evo following my command I turned my attention to the next closest evo. Arc-Aviards were capable of carrying up to two people but their flight range was greatly reduced with the addition of the second person. For Ziana and I to have the best chance of escape from the island we'd need two of them. I repeated the same action as I did with the other Arc-Aviard, and was relieved that it didn't attack me either once it was brought out of its trance.
"Door, wait." I ordered the second evo. It twilled as well then rushed off to stand beside the first evo by the warehouse door.
'If I knew it was this easy to break Chase's control I would have done it when he ordered the ascended to rip its own throat out rather than give into his demands…' I thought to myself.
I glanced down at the American soldiers lying unconscious due Chase's power and considered waking them. I quickly decided against it since it would mean possibly fighting the soldiers for Arc-Aviards to escape if they got wise to the fact the plan to kill Chase was shit-faced and falling apart at the seams. Instead I rushed over to the left door of the double doors of the warehouse and pushed it open.
Thankfully that was enough for the Arc-Aviards to walk out of the warehouse, they stood at attention a few steps past entrance. Ziana was standing a few feet away from the warehouse and looking up at the sky with a nervous frown.
"What's wrong?" I asked as I walked outside. Ziana pointed to the sky towards the center of the island, her expression turning from nervously to terrified. I walked over to where she was and then turned to look in the same direction and immediately saw what she was worried about. There was a massive glowing spell circle thingy floating several hundred feet over the tip of the tallest mountain.
"That's a ritual spell sigil…" She said something softly her voice was barely above a whisper. "…those only cast world treasure class offensive spells. They can destroy entire countries or decimate continents."
"Decimate continents!" I balked then looked at the island we stood on. "This is only a small island that barely borders a peninsula!"
"This only shows how terrified whatever country's military that's casting that spell is. It would be considered overkill…not to mention using such magic has been illegal since the second world war."
"We need to get off this island now!" I exclaimed then rushed over to the Arc-Aviards. "Down, mounting, prepare for flight."
Both Arc-Aviards lowered down into a crouched position then lowered their heads until they were touching the ground. This was the mounting position taught to the evos before being sold. I glanced over my shoulder expecting to see Ziana standing behind me only to find her still standing and looking up at the spell circles.
"ZIANA!" I barked at the top of my lungs, snapping her out od her daze.
"I'm sorry!" She exclaimed. The way she retreated into herself and stiffened at my volume made me feel like an ass but we couldn't afford to wait any longer.
I helped Ziana climb onto the back of the smaller Arc-Aviard, then showed her how to steer it by grabbing onto special sections of its scruff. I could only afford to take a few minutes going over the instructions before I climbed onto the taller of the two.
I gave my Arc-Aviard a slight kick in the side, urging it onwards. The Arc-Aviard stood to full height then dashed forwards. It took long, powerful gallops as it approached the edge cliff that the warehouse was built on then the evo jumped into the air. Diving over the edge of the cliff and falling towards the rocks below. The evo quickly snapped its wings open, leveling out before it surged upwards with a powerful flap of its six wings. I held on tightly to the evos back as we rose up above the cliff edge.
I was happy to see that Ziana hadn't needed to hear me tell to follow me. She was right on my tail but the way she was clinging to the back of the evo told me she was terrified and not used to riding a flying evo. To be honest I wasn't used to it either but thanks to being one of the lead scientist in charge of the Arc-Aviards development I have ridden one a couple times.
"Relax! They sense your emotions and match them!" I yelled over at the howling of the wind.
"I've never flown before!" Ziana all but screamed while her Arc-Aviard flew awkwardly.
"It shows but please try to relax. If you cling too tightly then they can't fly correctly!" I yelled back at her. She gave me a apologetic look and tried to correct her posture but still couldn't overcome her fear.
'Fear and elevated emotions won't be great for the baby…' I thought. I started to steer my evo towards the open ocean. I knew that there were supposed to be a couple English Zee-waro's stationed a couple miles off the island in case evacuation was necessary.
"Should we fly lower so Chase's flying evos doesn't notice us?" Ziana asked as she flew next to me.
I saw she was pointing back at the giant flying centipede evo that Chase rode into Evo-cution on days earlier. It was flying over the center of the island, snapping at flying evos and splicers that were trying to bring it down but failing. None of them seemed to notice the spell circle floating even higher than them above the island. I nodded at her request and started to order my Arc-Aviard to fly closer to the ground when a loud sound caught my attention.
The noise sounded like a volcano beginning to erupt. A deep and baleful rumble that shook the island so strongly I could feel the shockwaves even in the air. I gave Ziana a concerned look, her expression mirroring the dread I was feeling.
Another sharp rumble rolled over the island, shaking everything even more violently. Deep cracks began to form over the island, the waves of the sea rolled and crashed against the shore and cliffs as if being stirred up by some god of chaos. The shockwaves of the from the rumbling whipped the wind up and made it difficult for the Arc-Aviards to fly straight.
More rumbles and shockwaves assaulted the island as soon as one started to subsided another took their place. I saw trees sway and shake, many ultimately falling from being uprooted. Buildings, homes, temples, structures all splintered and shattered like toothpicks from the force of the rumblings. The docks; which were already destroyed by the crystal fused beings; could no longer be recognized as anything other than a smoldering wreckage being reclaimed by the sea.
I could barely hear myself think over the sounds of shattering rock, wood, and metal. Let alone the wind that howled and screamed from the chaos below. I had to held onto my Arc-Aviard with all my might to keep from getting thrown off as it struggled to stay aloft, ultimately getting blown higher thanks to a updraft where the winds assaulting the island and the ocean's breeze met. Ziana was holding onto her evo thought just barely.